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Blanco expected to catch Dickey's next start

4/2/13: R.A. Dickey talks about his Opening Day start that resulted in a 4-1 loss to the Indians

By Gregor Chisholm
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MLB.com |

TORONTO -- Henry Blanco is expected to get the start behind the plate when R.A. Dickey makes his next appearance against Boston on Sunday.

J.P. Arencibia got the call for Dickey's outing on Opening Night, but the duties will now change. Blanco previously caught Dickey with the Mets in 2010 and will now receive another opportunity to work with the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner.

Arencibia was charged with three passed balls on Tuesday night, but manager John Gibbons said the performance didn't have much of an impact on his decision on who will catch Dickey next time out.

"Not necessarily because of last night," Gibbons said. "I want to get them all in there as soon as possible. J.P. will catch until then."

Arencibia's three passed balls broke a club record but the struggles behind the plate weren't entirely unexpected considering it was his first experience with a knuckleballer in a Major League game.

Mets catcher Josh Thole had similar issues last season, when he was charged with three passed balls in one game while he also had a pair of games when he was charged with two.

Despite that, Gibbons has opted to make a change, but he declined to state whether Dickey would receive a personal catcher in the future. The Blue Jays intend to mix it up depending on when Arencibia needs a day of rest and how badly the club needs his bat in the lineup.

"We'll see how it goes," Gibbons said. "We said during Spring Training, when J.P. did a solid job with it, we want his bat in the lineup on certain nights. We'll see how it all plays out. I don't want to get all caught up in that right now. We'll see how it all develops."